


i can see the world from up here (but i'd rather look at you)

by fictionalportal



Series: 30 Days of Pride [8]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Based on a prompt from venicimo07 on tumblr:"Kim was heartbroken and crying outside under the pouring rain, alone and miserable. Trini, the new girl in town not knowing who Kim was or about her recent fall from grace, walked up beside her, placing Kim under her umbrella, said something uplifting and left her yellow umbrella with Kim while Trini runs away soaked under the rain. Ever since then, Kim always sees Trini and starts to fall for her. <3"In which Trini and Kimberly first meet on top of a cliff.





	i can see the world from up here (but i'd rather look at you)

Looking out over Angel Grove from the top of a cliff made one thing very clear to Kimberly: yes, this city sucked. Kimberly had lived in the same house for seventeen years, and she’d been happy for most of them. Fourth grade had been tough--her parents had almost gotten divorced--but most of her childhood had been smooth sailing. Even middle school had been easy. Granted, she’d spent most of it gossiping about her classmates with Amanda and Harper, but they’d become good friends because of it. At least that’s what Kimberly had thought.

Kimberly had spent the past month trying to manage a spiral of horrible events, which, admittedly, she had instigated. She shouldn’t have come out to Amanda. In seventh grade, they’d had a vicious conversation about a girl in their class whom Amanda accused of staring for a little too long in the locker room after gym class. Kimberly had naively assumed that Amanda would think differently if she found out that someone close to her was actually into girls.

Instead of attacking Kimberly to her face, Amanda had played a long, manipulative game involving a series of increasingly scandalous photos and texts. As Kimberly sat with her legs dangling over the rock face, she tried not to think about the particular picture that she was sure would be burned into her memory forever. She pushed all of Amanda’s false words about hands and lips and tongues as far away as she could.

She was thankful that a storm was rolling in over the mine. Under the thunder, she could cry as loudly as she wanted.

From her perch above the city, Kimberly realized how gray it all was. The stone buildings and crumbling asphalt bled into the gravel roads that led up to the mine. Gray, gray, gray. The clear lakes scattered throughout the mine reflected it all back: gray, gray, yellow, gray.

Yellow?

A yellow blob bobbed down the gravel path through the sheets of rain and approached where Kimberly sat. Why would anyone be going for a casual walk in this weather? The list of valid reasons to be outside in such a downpour included 1. stormchasing and 2. mourning the rapid descent of one’s position in the high school social hierarchy.

“Hey,” the big yellow umbrella shouted as it moved ever closer.

Kimberly didn’t recognize the high-pitched voice as belonging to any of her former friends, so she gambled with a response and yelled back, “Hey yourself.”

“You’re in my spot,” the giant umbrella returned. Finally, a short, flannel-clad girl stepped into view on Kimberly’s left. Despite her stature, the girl radiated self-assurance. Although Kimberly had been coming to this cliff for weeks, she found herself firmly agreeing that this particular spot belonged to the owner of the yellow umbrella.

“My bad,” Kimberly replied. She reflexively reached up to brush away her own tears but remembered that the rain provided perfect, natural cover-up.

The girl sat down next to Kimberly. After a moment, she moved the umbrella so that it sheltered both of them from the rain. Kimberly could feel the other girl’s elbow against her own, the soft flannel brushing against Kimberly’s damp skin, the heat rising off of their bodies and mingling in the small space between them. She snapped herself out of it and remembered that polite conversation was usually protocol when encountering a new person.

“Thanks,” Kimberly said, huddling into a tight ball. She glanced at the girl again. “Hey, you’re in my bio class.”

The girl nodded. “Yep. Back row.”

“Trini, right?”

That earned Kimberly a sideways look. “Yeah,” Trini said.

“What?”

“It’s just weird that you know my name. I don’t know yours.”

Kimberly pulled her knees impossibly closer to her chest. “You don’t?”

Trini scoffed. “What, are you famous or something?”

“Hardly.”

“I’m new around here. I don’t really know anybody,” Trini said matter-of-factly. “So if you’re, like, the mayor or whatever, I guess it’s nice to meet you.”

Kimberly laughed. She hoped it didn’t sound as bitter as she felt.

“So what are you doing out here?” Trini asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Kimberly turned to face her, noting Trini’s telltale nonchalance. Kimberly issued herself a challenge: _avoid talking about yourself as much as possible._ _Let this girl believe that you’re not a monster._

Trini stayed stoic as she looked out over the town. “Told you. This is my spot.”

Kimberly thought up several rather inappropriate comebacks that would keep the attention off of herself, but she decided against all of them. Trini had no idea who Kimberly Hart, ex-cheerleader, ex-queen bee, ex-heterosexual, was. Kimberly had a blank slate with someone in Angel Grove for the first time since, well, ever.

“I walk up here sometimes,” Trini continued. “Just to hang out. Listen to music. You know.”

Kimberly nodded.

“Sometimes I do yoga.”

A cackle caught in Kimberly’s throat. The thought of this broody back-rower meditating peacefully was paradoxical at best.

Trini fired back at Kimberly’s sarcastic chuckle with a direct shot to the chest. “It’s more fun than crying.”

Kimberly nodded slowly, biting the inside of her lip to keep from breaking down in front of someone she barely knew.

A few minutes passed, the deafening rain drowning out any awkward silence that might have settled between them. Kimberly felt the heat next to her disappear and looked over to find Trini standing up well outside of the radius of the yellow umbrella.

“Hang in there,” Trini said, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “Try not to get struck by lightning.”

 _Wouldn’t even be shocked at this point_ , Kimberly thought to herself.

And then Trini walked away, leaving her yellow umbrella with a stranger.

***

A few days later, Kimberly chased Trini up that same cliff, scaling the side as easily as if she were being buoyed up by an ocean. When they met at the top, Trini looked at Kimberly differently than she had when they’d found each other in the rain. There was a cautious fear in Trini’s eyes that could only have been inspired by a newfound knowledge of whom Kimberly Hart was and what she had done to her former best friend.

“Just talk to me,” Kimberly implored, praying that the girl wouldn’t cast her aside as the rest of the school had.

Without a word, Trini leapt across the chasm that split the rock.

***

Kimberly was secretly thrilled that becoming a superhero somehow landed her in the same boat as the girl on the cliff. Trini warmed up to the idea of being a Power Ranger a little more slowly than the rest of them, but she came around after discovering just how hard she could kick rock monsters in their clastic crotches.

Fortunately, Trini also warmed up to Kimberly. They spent time together with the other Rangers at training, at bonfires, and even at lunch. When Trini asked Kimberly to hang out at Krispy Kreme, Kimberly was surprised to discover that none of the boys had been invited along.

After completing their first mission as Rangers, they celebrated by eating as many doughnuts as they could in five minutes. Zack managed eight, Billy and Jason tied with six, and Trini outdid them all with ten and mocked Kimberly for only getting through four.

Trini and Kimberly hiked back up through the mine after bidding the boys a good night. They spent the rest of the evening looking at constellations while Trini complained about how full her stomach was. Kimberly never returned Trini’s yellow umbrella.

***

**Author's Note:**

> well, this could have been longer and less summary, but i got sleeeeeepyyyyyyy. goodnight friends thanks for reading <3 
> 
> please send me prompts so i can keep this series/project going! i'm fictional-portal on tumblr. luv ur comments thx


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